The Thrifty Stitcher
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Hello! Learn to sew with me Claire-Louise Hardie, The Sewing Producer and Mastermind for The Great British Sewing Bee! I'm a Professional Stitcher with a passion for teaching beginners to sew!
The Thrifty Stitcher
1w ago
New to sewing and need to change the sewing machine needle? I’ll show you how in this step by step tutorial, and share some top tips about sewing machine needles too…
Sewing machine needles are not a purchase for life! If you’ve still to purchase a machine, head over to this post to help you choose
They should be changed for every 8 hours of continuous sewing, and for each new project or different fabric. EG if sewing denim, and you try and use the same needle for chiffon, you will very likely snag the chiffon.
Most brands of domestic sewing machine needles are generally ..read more
The Thrifty Stitcher
3w ago
Ever wondered how to construct a classic tailored waistband with canvas like they do in traditional menswear?
Join me and my membership club on Tuesday march 5th at 19:30 GMT for a live zoom class with bespoke tailor and part time Lecturer Greg Dunn who will be showing us exactly how to make a traditionally tailored waistband.
Can’t make the live zoom class? No worries, a recording replay will also be sent to those who sign up for the class, so you can watch along at your own pace later on.
It’s just £7.99 to join me, Greg and my elevator club members tomorrow night ( session is inc ..read more
The Thrifty Stitcher
2M ago
For day 11 of my 12 days of sewing series, I wanted to share my top tips and tricks for choosing and getting the most out of an adjustable mannequin.
So you might be thinking that to choose your size you merely get one that matches the biggest part of you right? Well that coulod mean that the mannequin or dress-form will be too big all over for you.
Watch the video to learn more and see my process when working with an adjustable mannequin.
Happy stitching all CL :)
Download my fit buddy measurement form
Download my how to create a fit buddy handout ..read more
The Thrifty Stitcher
3M ago
It’s day 9 of my 12 days of sewing series, and I couldn’t do a sewing series without helping anyone who is an absolute newbie too.
Maybe you’ve just got a sewing machine, or you’re thinking about getting a sewing machine? Or maybe you’re teaching someone to sew? If so then download my free Make friends with your sewing machine beginners handbook.
It’s a 12 page booklet all about getting started on the machine, and includes hyperlinks to some of my beginner sewing videos too.
Keep it somewhere safe on your computer to refer back to, or even print off a copy. And do feel fr ..read more
The Thrifty Stitcher
3M ago
For day 8 of my 12 days of sewing series I’m sharing how to make your own lining pattern pieces when the original pattern is unlined
One of the ways your can extend the life of the sewing patterns you’ve invested time fitting is by re-making them and tweaking the style. For example making an unlined jacket into a lined one, will create a very different outcome.
I’m asked all the time how to do this by my students, so in this video lesson I show you how to you can easily make your own lining patterns
Happy stitching all CL :)
PS- There’s a little written tutorial to acc ..read more
The Thrifty Stitcher
3M ago
It’s day 7 of my 12 days of sewing series and today is all about altering either ready to wear trousers or a previous make
Altering clothes as a costumer was my speciality, and I’m passionate about being “thrifty” with our resources. One thing that can really transform a slightly outdated trouser leg is to change it’s shape. Recently I altered some bootcut jeans to straight legs and will now wear them again, so they’re no longer languishing in my cupboard
In this video lesson, I show you a little theory about avoiding twisting by keeping on grain, plus I walk you through taperin ..read more
The Thrifty Stitcher
3M ago
Day 6 of my 12 days of sewing series was facebook live all about some of my favourite sewing and fitting books.
I’ve linked all the books shared during the live below.
Happy stitching all CL :)
Books I shared in the video
The Reader’s digest guide to sewing
Fabric for Fashion– the swatch book
All new fabric Savvy by Sandra Betzina
The art of sewing: basic tailoring
The singer reference library guide to Tailoring
The Perfect fit book (singer/apple/creative publishers)
The fitting book
Ahead of the curve by Jenny Rushmore ..read more
The Thrifty Stitcher
3M ago
Day 5 of my 12 days of sewing series is all about Ease in a sewing pattern and how this affects choosing a pattern size
In very simple terms, Ease is the difference between your body measurements and the measurement of your clothing worn over your body. So a pattern with a lot of ease will be roomy over your body, and one with little ease will be close fitting.
Understanding how ease works will allow you to fine tune your pattern size choice based on your own ease preferences
Printable handout
If reading is your preferred way to learn, here’s my written handout on this ..read more
The Thrifty Stitcher
3M ago
For day 4 of my 12 days of sewing series, I’ve got a session all about quick and easy stash busting project ideas.
As we’re headed into the weekend after a week of not really knowing what day it is, Maybe you’re planning on doing a little sewing?
At this time of year, post festivities, many of us have little energy for a “big project” but we still crave the dopamine hit from making something new. In this video lesson, I share several projects that will use up those scraps of fabric in your stash, whilst crafting something useful too.
Project Resources
Fabric covered he ..read more
The Thrifty Stitcher
3M ago
It’s day three of my free winter series 12 days of sewing.
When we start making our own clothes, we are going to need to finish off the edges like necklines and armholes.
One way to finish off edges is using by attaching a facing. However on sleeveless garments having both an armhole facing and a neckline facing can be pretty annoying as there are then 2 different “flappy” bits of fabric on the inside. A nice clean finish is achieved when the neckline and armhole facings are combined into one single “all in one” facing like this photo
The first time you sew one of these, it c ..read more